Hi all,
Yesterday's post about this book did not get into what I learned from my reading so I thought I would briefly recap some of my favorite ideas from Dave Eggers’s memoir.
First, I liked the observation that people tend to respond to the tragic events in their lives by feeling as if they have been ‘chosen’ by a higher power. This is certainly a feeling I can relate to but I don’t have much to add in the way of an explanation. It may be that the sense of purpose created by such feelings empowers people to take active steps (like reaching out others or turning to religion) to help them overcome their suffering. It could also be that the sense of kinship with a higher power helps people accept the difficult events of their lives.
At one point in the book, Eggers points out how people who worry about certain external ideals such as perception or manners struggle to ask questions about what they really want to learn. The questions these kinds of people ask tend to lack internal logic. A good way to spot such people is to see if their questions are based on any faulty assumptions (1).
The final thought I enjoyed was an explanation for lying. In most harmless cases of lying, the goal of the liar is to expedite an otherwise clunky, awkward, or time-consuming transaction. Though as a society we tend to default toward vilifying the liar, most of the time the malicious intent attributed to the liar would be better described as a desire to simply keep things moving along.
Footnotes / is the business bro here?
1. Can you explain your interest in this position?
If this paragraph made no sense to you, go to a job interview for an ambiguous position.
